With pyrotechnics screeching above his head and 19,000 people cheering his debut entrance into Oracle Arena, Harrison Barnes didn't crack a smile.

The Warriors' rookie small forward was wearing the same intense glare when his teammates were flexing and celebrating their crunch-time victory against the Clippers the next night.

His facial expression still didn't change when Kobe Bryant tried to joke with him as they were awaiting foul shots during a blowout loss Friday.

"He doesn't show any change in demeanor out there, and he's stone cold in the fourth quarter," guard Stephen Curry said. "When he thinks it's game time, he thinks it's time to be stoic."

Make or miss. Win or lose. When Barnes is on the court, he sports the same steely look.

But he's a sarcastic hoot off the court, and admits that there are emotions bubbling beneath the surface even when he's playing a game.

He feels the pressure of expectations that mounted on him as the nation's top prep player and have escalated since Brandon Rush was lost for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

"I'm looking at (Rush's injury) as an opportunity for me, but I know that I'm going to be expected to be more productive," Barnes said. "It's time to come out with an even more serious mind-set."

Get serious. That seems to be Barnes' go-to move.

His middle name is Jordan, and his mother taped Michael Jordan's games - just in case she ever had a son. Barnes grew up watching the tapes and trying to live up to the name.

He did an admirable job, leading Ames High to 53 consecutive wins and back-to-back Iowa state titles and being deemed the nation's top high school player. He was the MVP of both the McDonald's All-American and Jordan Brand Classic games

ESPN dubbed him the "Black Falcon" - playing off the animal monikers of Jordan ("Black Cat") and Bryant ("Black Mamba"). Barnes got scholarship offers from every major college and Skyped his commitment to North Carolina head coach Roy Williams.

"Coming out of high school, there was a lot of hype, a lot of criticism, all that kind of stuff," Barnes said. "I've been in the spotlight. I'm used to it."

Neither the hype nor the criticism stopped there. Barnes was the first freshman to receive a preseason All-America selection.

Barnes averaged 16.3 points on 43 percent shooting and 5.5 rebounds in two seasons at North Carolina, but it seemingly wasn't enough. Scouts picked apart his game. After once comparing him to Bryant in high school, they said Barnes couldn't defend and couldn't create his shots in college.

"Harrison was in a lose-lose situation," said Kendall Marshall, a Phoenix Suns rookie who played with Barnes at North Carolina. "They put him on such a pedestal that it would have been impossible to live up to."

Barnes said the difference in college and the NBA is the difference between "daylight and darkness." Because he was surrounded by unique talents at North Carolina, Barnes' game was contained. His role was simply to score.

In the NBA, he's being asked to do everything else. The Warriors need Barnes to defend some of the league's best athletes, rebound against those same pogo-sticking jumpers and perform as the team's only real slasher.

At 6-foot-8, 210 pounds, Barnes is averaging 8.3 points on 45.8 percent shooting, 2.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 23.6 minutes a game. Head coach Mark Jackson and the Warriors' front office say more minutes are on the horizon.

"He can't rely on B-Rush coming in and playing strong when he's having a bad game anymore," assistant general manager Kirk Lacob said. "He has to grow up quickly, and he'll take that as an opportunity to work even harder and play even more aggressively."

Without center Andrew Bogut (ankle) setting up open shots for Klay Thompson and Curry, Barnes' ability to get into the paint is becoming more important. Without Rush filling the lanes in transition, Barnes needs to shoulder more of that load, too.

After a shootaround last week, he stayed late to work on post moves with Richard Jefferson. Hours later, Barnes was able to put the practice into a game performance, scoring out of the block on back-to-back possessions against Cleveland.